All good things must come to the end. It's a good sign that the Icelandic players looked so dejected at the end and evidence of how far they've come. They were 131st in the world a one stage in 2012 and were still down in 33rd position in 2014, but have reached the QF of the Euros on merit. I can't think of that big a jump in the 24 years I've been watching football and it just goes to show what can be achieved with infrastructure, a clear ethos, specialised training from a young age and a manager who is able to both command respect and galvanise a team. It's uncanny the parallels with this Iceland team and Leicester (and indeed Ranieri). The more populous yet perennially underperforming European nations should take note. I would make France favourites against Germany with the absence of Hummels, Khedira, Gomez and maybe even Schweinsteiger and favourites to win the competition from here. That probably means Wales will win. Ha
Iceland can hold their heads up high, this is still the greatest performance in the history of the EUROs. At least they went out in a blaze of fire, the only way befitting true Viking warriors. And besides, England is on the way back from France, they'll stop off for some hearty looting and pillaging to cheer themselves up before they sail back home.
Iceland didn't stand a chance but that doesn't matter, they had already won. Very well done reaching top 8! They left with style too, I bet their fans still appreciated two goals they scored.
@DelJuve France is a country of immigration for more than one century, which is unique in Europe. The French team has always been composed by 2nd and 3rd generation of ("poor") immigrants. This isn't new, today of African descent, yesterday from the Caribbeans and Maghreb (Zidane), 30 years ago from Italy and Portugal (Platini...), 50 years ago from Poland (Kopa) etc... It's more about immigration waves than color of skin.
@DelJuve well look at their white players very few french players. Antoine Greizzmann and Morgan Schneiderlin both ethnic Germans who were forced to Franconiced at the cost of extincting Alscale-Lorriane version of German. France never any claim on that area. They annexed it 1700-still it was never in french possession constantly. Koscielny is a Polak. Heck there is reason why Arsene Wenger would never manage French National Team. He at one interview when ignorant English interviewer said his coaching style influenced by French culture, Arsene Wenger insisted he is also influenced by German culture at home. Funny thing is Arsene is french first name. There will be day history will be rewritten and speak of this vile and evil thing done in our time. That also include former parts of Prussia and Silesia that was given as free gift to Poland, Russia and.......Well the point is someday history will be rewritten.
@DelJuve- It's like they owned almost half of Africa at one stage or something! It's amazing at how many of the 4-7% of the country which constitute "black" people in France (if they actually had race as a category on their census) end up to become professional footballers eligible for the national team. If you say a quarter of all black French people are boys (arbitrary figure, I know- but without the census data it's impossible to be accurate), that's only a maximum of 1.25 million people. It shows how strong the desire to become a professional footballer amongst black boys in France is for there to be such a large percentage in the men's national team, and present without a quota I might add (there were rumours of government-approved quotas on LIMITING black players in the under age groups although I don't believe it). It helps give hope to a generation when players such as Desailly, Thuram, Vieira, Henry, Trezeguet, Karembeu and Wiltord are there to look up to.
@DelJuve 10 players of Italy had a beard, not too long, not too short and 8 of them had gel in their hair. Don't think you would see that in any other european country...
@dSquib- Not sure why you have 6 down-votes, because you're correct. Portugal will probably limp to the final but are far from a good team and England, well..... were England.
@SteveHyland True. And the French aren't even great, just good, and they merely played as well in attack as they should and put Iceland away early. Portugal could limp to the final and win on penalties without a single 90 minute win. It hasn't been a great tourney.
@benosgoode Yeah, he played more of Kante's role which he did way better than his usual role. If France continues with same system he'll probably battle with Kante and Pogba from two spots in midfield agains Germany.
Looking back at matches of these teams I wouldn't be surprised if this game went for long as draw, France making changes again and snatch a late winning goal through individual skill. Seriously, for France's sake I hope Deschamps knows his best team which he should at this stage of the tournament. Every win they've got has come after changing their system either form 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1 or other way around. Of course, different opponents require different approach and it's good to have alternative plan but you can't always win a match at last minutes. Kante is out which changes things a bit but France have many replacements for him, most notably Cabaye who can actually suit better for this match against very well defending Iceland. Matuidi hasn't been too impressive so far and in my opinion should be dropped for Coman and move Griezmann behind Giroud like in second half against Ireland or at least bring Sissoko in his place. But I doubt that will happen.
@What4
Wales won cos Belgium played without 3 core defenders....Portugal won cos they had luck. With France it wont be so easy cos they play home+ all players are ingame.
I predict France to win 2:0
no Kante in midfield for France means that they will defend for most periods and attack strategically... I think with giroud up front it will take a while Lotta time for France to get that goal
1-0/1-1/0-0
I would like to see Iceland go further but to be honest I know France is going to qualify because they will take this match more serious after what they have seen from Iceland, so the surprise factor won't work anymore. But still an amazing journey by Iceland who only got 300.000 citizens and thinking that some are elder people, others too young, others just don't like football, they did an amazing selection of players.
well, France and Iceland met at least twice,they were in the same Euro2000 qualification group, 3-2 for France at home, in Iceland there was a draw 1-1. Whoscored, correct that "Previous 1 Meetings"
except for this match i was never impressed by france national team. But maybe after this match they have a chance of beating Germany...
@Ffaris lol France have a Chance to beat Germany yes. but a game vs Island is no scale
All good things must come to the end. It's a good sign that the Icelandic players looked so dejected at the end and evidence of how far they've come. They were 131st in the world a one stage in 2012 and were still down in 33rd position in 2014, but have reached the QF of the Euros on merit. I can't think of that big a jump in the 24 years I've been watching football and it just goes to show what can be achieved with infrastructure, a clear ethos, specialised training from a young age and a manager who is able to both command respect and galvanise a team. It's uncanny the parallels with this Iceland team and Leicester (and indeed Ranieri). The more populous yet perennially underperforming European nations should take note. I would make France favourites against Germany with the absence of Hummels, Khedira, Gomez and maybe even Schweinsteiger and favourites to win the competition from here. That probably means Wales will win. Ha
Griezmann is a man of the match in my opinion.
Iceland can hold their heads up high, this is still the greatest performance in the history of the EUROs. At least they went out in a blaze of fire, the only way befitting true Viking warriors. And besides, England is on the way back from France, they'll stop off for some hearty looting and pillaging to cheer themselves up before they sail back home.
Iceland didn't stand a chance but that doesn't matter, they had already won. Very well done reaching top 8! They left with style too, I bet their fans still appreciated two goals they scored.
Iceland sill shown they're dangerous and can make use of opponent's errors+there should be a penalty - technical error from Evra
Interesting :) 8 black players in field for france :) dont think any other european country has fielded as much
@DelJuve France is a country of immigration for more than one century, which is unique in Europe. The French team has always been composed by 2nd and 3rd generation of ("poor") immigrants. This isn't new, today of African descent, yesterday from the Caribbeans and Maghreb (Zidane), 30 years ago from Italy and Portugal (Platini...), 50 years ago from Poland (Kopa) etc... It's more about immigration waves than color of skin.
@DelJuve well look at their white players very few french players. Antoine Greizzmann and Morgan Schneiderlin both ethnic Germans who were forced to Franconiced at the cost of extincting Alscale-Lorriane version of German. France never any claim on that area. They annexed it 1700-still it was never in french possession constantly. Koscielny is a Polak. Heck there is reason why Arsene Wenger would never manage French National Team. He at one interview when ignorant English interviewer said his coaching style influenced by French culture, Arsene Wenger insisted he is also influenced by German culture at home. Funny thing is Arsene is french first name. There will be day history will be rewritten and speak of this vile and evil thing done in our time. That also include former parts of Prussia and Silesia that was given as free gift to Poland, Russia and.......Well the point is someday history will be rewritten.
@DelJuve- It's like they owned almost half of Africa at one stage or something! It's amazing at how many of the 4-7% of the country which constitute "black" people in France (if they actually had race as a category on their census) end up to become professional footballers eligible for the national team. If you say a quarter of all black French people are boys (arbitrary figure, I know- but without the census data it's impossible to be accurate), that's only a maximum of 1.25 million people. It shows how strong the desire to become a professional footballer amongst black boys in France is for there to be such a large percentage in the men's national team, and present without a quota I might add (there were rumours of government-approved quotas on LIMITING black players in the under age groups although I don't believe it). It helps give hope to a generation when players such as Desailly, Thuram, Vieira, Henry, Trezeguet, Karembeu and Wiltord are there to look up to.
@DelJuve 10 players of Italy had a beard, not too long, not too short and 8 of them had gel in their hair. Don't think you would see that in any other european country...
giroud the best striker in euro
Brutal and somewhat expected.
No disrespect to Iceland, but this is the first good team they've played.
@dSquib- Not sure why you have 6 down-votes, because you're correct. Portugal will probably limp to the final but are far from a good team and England, well..... were England.
@SteveHyland True. And the French aren't even great, just good, and they merely played as well in attack as they should and put Iceland away early. Portugal could limp to the final and win on penalties without a single 90 minute win. It hasn't been a great tourney.
Matuidi has been excellent so far...
@benosgoode Yeah, he played more of Kante's role which he did way better than his usual role. If France continues with same system he'll probably battle with Kante and Pogba from two spots in midfield agains Germany.
2:0 Iceland will win
No one wants to say if Iceland can do it again, lol...
Whatever happened to Alfred Finnbogason?
The game goes into extra time at 1-1 (France grabs a late goal). Stays 1-1 after extras. Iceland wins 4-3 in PKs.
Looking back at matches of these teams I wouldn't be surprised if this game went for long as draw, France making changes again and snatch a late winning goal through individual skill. Seriously, for France's sake I hope Deschamps knows his best team which he should at this stage of the tournament. Every win they've got has come after changing their system either form 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1 or other way around. Of course, different opponents require different approach and it's good to have alternative plan but you can't always win a match at last minutes. Kante is out which changes things a bit but France have many replacements for him, most notably Cabaye who can actually suit better for this match against very well defending Iceland. Matuidi hasn't been too impressive so far and in my opinion should be dropped for Coman and move Griezmann behind Giroud like in second half against Ireland or at least bring Sissoko in his place. But I doubt that will happen.
Will Coman be able to play? France really needs him imo.
No one expected Portugal or Wales to go through, so I see no reason why we can't get another upset here with a win for France.
@What4 Wales won cos Belgium played without 3 core defenders....Portugal won cos they had luck. With France it wont be so easy cos they play home+ all players are ingame. I predict France to win 2:0
France will win with at least two goals difference. They might condede going forward as Iceland are very efficient and direct, so 3-1 very likely
penalties win Iceland and go to next stage
I think a 1-1 draw to et should be possible here iceland are very disciplined
I think Halldorsson good will play. Halldorsson MOTM
1-1
Host Nation France should win 2-1. But Iceland can still held their head high and return home as heroes.
no Kante in midfield for France means that they will defend for most periods and attack strategically... I think with giroud up front it will take a while Lotta time for France to get that goal 1-0/1-1/0-0
Iceland to qualify!
I would like to see Iceland go further but to be honest I know France is going to qualify because they will take this match more serious after what they have seen from Iceland, so the surprise factor won't work anymore. But still an amazing journey by Iceland who only got 300.000 citizens and thinking that some are elder people, others too young, others just don't like football, they did an amazing selection of players.
well, France and Iceland met at least twice,they were in the same Euro2000 qualification group, 3-2 for France at home, in Iceland there was a draw 1-1. Whoscored, correct that "Previous 1 Meetings"
1:1 - penalties Iceland
3 - 1 France Win.
@bima1001 Iceland is not more than one goal in all games. 3 goals!!! hehe